Device for the removal of individual samples from static bulk material

ABSTRACT

This disclosure relates to a sampling device which includes a casing having a drilling worm or auger mounted therein and wherein there is carried by the casing for movement axially thereof a scraper, the scraper being disposed between adjacent convolutions of the drilling worm and being operable both to form a top closure for the space within the casing during the taking of a sample and to effect a thorough cleaning of the drilling worm during the discharge of a sample whereby the sample discharged from the sampling device will be a complete sample and definitive of the area of the bulk material from which the sample is taken. The automatic cleaning of the sampling device both assures a complete sample and eliminates the unnecessary later cleaning of the sampling device.

United States Patent [191 Stonner et al.

[ July 9, 1974 DEVICE FOR THE-REMOVAL OF INDIVIDUAL SAMPLES FROM STATIC BULK MATERIAL [76] Inventors: Alfred Stonner, Sickingmuhlerstr.,

' D 4370 Marl; Rolf Kohling,

' Lohbusch I, D 4640 Wattenscheid; Manfred Debus, Erzbergerallee 101, D 5100 Aachen, all of Germany 22 Filed: Jan. 12, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 323,323

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data 5/1962 Great Britain 73/421 B 956,716 4/1964 Great Britain 73/4252 Primary Examiner-S Clement Swisher Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Diner, Brown, Ramik & Wight 5'7 ABSTRACT This disclosure relates to a sampling device which includes a casing having a drilling worm or auger mounted therein and wherein there is carried by the casing for movement axially thereof a scraper, the scraper being disposed between adjacent convolutions of the drilling worm and being operable both to form a top closure for the space within the casing during the taking of a sample and to effect a thorough cleaning of the drilling Worm during the discharge of a sample whereby the sample discharged from the sampling device will be a complete sample and definitive of the area of the bulk material from which the sample is taken. The automatic cleaning of the sampling device both assures a complete sample and eliminates the unnecessary later cleaning of the sampling device.

9 Claims, 3 Drawing; Figures DEVICE FOR THEREMOVAL OF INDIVIDUAL SAMPLES FROM STATIC BULK MATERIAL This invention relates to an apparatus for effecting the removal of individual samples from static bulk material and more particularly to a sample removing device in the form of an encased drilling worm which can be introduced into the bulk material.

The value and workability of fine grained bulk material, such as coal, ore, building material, etc. often depends essentially on the quality characteristics, such as water, ash content, or granulation structure. In order to determine these characteristics, it is necessary to take individual samples through various portions of the bulk material, which samples give one a view of the quality characteristics of the bulk material. In many instances this is accomplished by means of sampling sticks which are operated manually. Because of the considerable expenditure of time, the taking of the samples is often not accomplished with the necessary care, and thus, the sampling doesnot always fulfill the requirements desired by such sampling. Sampling sticks, moreover, are suited preferably for fine grained bulk materials.

An attempt has been made to take individual samples by the introduction of an encased drilling worm. However, it has been found, especially in the case of tough, sticky bulk material, that the drilling worm plugs up and could be cleaned only with great difficulty;

Accordingly, the present invention relates to an encased drilling worm which is provided with means for automatically cleaning the same and which device picks up only the material in the sampling area and discharges the material in a satisfactory manner.

The sampling device of this invention includes a scraper which is mounted within the casing and which is positioned between two adjacent convolutions of the drilling worm or auger with the scraper being mounted for movement axially of the casing only in a guided manner so that it is free to be driven .by the drilling worm both during the taking of a sampleand during the discharging of a sample from the casing.

In accordance with this invention, circumferential movement of the scraper is prevented by means of a slot type guide which permits the scraper to move to the extreme lower end of the casing and provides an upper closure of the space between the drilling worm and the casing and which scraper moves upwardly as the drilling progresses to continue to be an upper closure of the drilling space. In a like manner, when the drilling worm is rotated in a reverse direction, the scraper moves downwardly in the casing and effects a complete discharge of the received material and thus simultaneously cleans the inside of the drilling casing thus eliminating additional cleaning apparatus.

Advantageously, the scraper is in the form of an elastic block which occupies about one quarter of the cross section of the casing. This arrangement results in a relationship between the scraper and the drilling worm and casing wherein the scraper maintains its relative position and does not tilt or cant so as to be wedged.

A further feature of the invention is the mounting of the scraper which includes guide pins extending through the casing and attached to a pipe-like cage surrounding the casing which cage is guided co-axially with the casing by at least three pairs of supporting rollers distributed over the'circumference of the casing. This arrangement will insure that the casing does not IN THE DRAWINGS:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of the sampling device of this invention with a portion thereof broken away and shown in section so as to illustrate the internal constructional details thereof.

FIG. 2 is a transverse sectional view taken generally along the line II-II of FIG. 1 and shows further th specific mounting of the scraper.

FIG. 3 is an elevational view of the invention in operation. t

Referring now to the drawings in detail, it will be seen that there is illustrated a device for the removal of individual samples from static bulk material disposed, for example, in clumps, bunkers, ships, railroad cars, trucks, etc. The sampling device is formed essentially in two parts, the lower part being in the form of a sample taking mechanism 1, the upper part being in the form of a drive mechanism 2. The sample taking mechanism 1 has a length which may be on the order of 1 to 3 meters and the entire sampling device may be readily suspended from any suitable guide device including a gantry, crane, etc., as shown in FIG. 3. Accordingly, the manner of supporting the sampling device has not been specifically illustrated and will not be specifically described herein.

port plate 6. Suitable means (not shown) are provided for fixedly mounting the electric motor 3 and the drive mechanism 4 relative to the plate 6.

A drilling worm or auger 7 extends downwardly from the plate 6 and is suitably joumallled in a conventional manner relative to the plate 6 for rotation about a predetermined axis. An upper portion of the drilling worm 7 projects through the plate 6 and is connected by means of the coupling 5 to the drive mechanism 4.

The drilling worm 7 is surrounded by a tubular casing 8 which is rigidly secured to the housing plate 6. The casing 8 terminates short of the free end of the drilling worm 7 and is provided at the lower end thereof with a conical closing ring 9.

The drilling worm 7 is carried by a solid center shaft 11 and disposed between the center shaft 11 and the casing 8 is a scraper 12 which extends fully between two adjacent convolutions of the drilling worm 7. The scraper 12 is preferably in the form of a block of elastic material and occupies a generally quandrant of the cross section of the casing 8. Additionally, the scraper 12 is provided at the top and bottom thereof with elastic scraper lips or edges 13.

slots formed in the casing 8. It is to be noted that the guide pins 14 are provided in two sets, one set for each of the guide slots 10 and if desired, each of the guide pins 14 may be provided with a suitable roller engageable with the walls of the guide slots 10. The guide slots 10 are disposed parallel to the axis of the shaft 11 and thus, the movement of the scraper 12 is limited to an axial movement. 8

A pipe-like cage surrounds the casing 8 and the scraper 12 is secured thereto for movement therewith by the guide pins 14. The cage 15 is radially spaced from the casing 8 a short distance and carries a plurality of supporting rollers 16 which are arranged in pairs with there being at least three pairs of the supporting rollers 16 spaced circumferentially about the casing 8 and thus maintaining a coaxial relationship between the cage 15 and the casing 8.

It will be readily apparent from the drawing that as the drilling worm 7 is rotated, the scraper 12 will be moved axially with the scraper 12 moving towards the housing plate 6 during a drilling operation and moving away from the housing plate 6 when the drilling worm 7 is rotated in the opposite direction.

At the beginning of a sample removing process, the scraper 12 is disposed at the lower end of the casing 8.

The sampling mechanism 1 isthen projected into the bulk material which is to be sampled, either vertically or at a selected angle, and the drilling worm 7 is rotated. As a result of the rotating movement of the drilling worm 7, certain of the bulk material is forced up into the casing 8 against the underside of the scraper l2 and at the same time the scraper l2 slides mechanically upward within the casing 8. This continues until the scraper 12 reaches its uppermost position without there being any Contact pressure between the sample being taken and the scraper in that the scraper 12 is fed upwardly within the casing 8 at the same rate as the sample. Thus, there is no jamming of the sample within the casing 8. At this time it is to be noted that suitable means, such as a control switch (not shown) for the electric motor 3 may be provided for limiting the rotation of the drilling worm 7 and thus, the length of the sample which was taken.

As indicated above, the drilling worm 7 must be rotated in reverse direction in order to discharge the sample. Accordingly, either the electric motor 3 must be of the reversal type, or the drive mechanism 4 must be of the reversal type. The reversal driving of the drilling worm 7 may be accomplished in any desired conventional manner.

It is to be understood that when the scraper 12 reaches the previously adjusted switching point, the electric motor 3 shuts off and the bulk material fed into the casing 8 by the drilling worm lies surrounded by the casing 8 on and between the convolutions of the drilling worm and is retained within the casing 8 thereby. The sampling device is then removed from the bulk material being sampled and transferred to a place where the sample is to be discharged. The manner in which the sampling device is shifted is not a part of this invention, and can be accomplished in any desired manner. The lower end of the casing 8 is associated with any desired type of receptacle for the sample, such as a conveyor belt, a scraper belt, a shaker-loader or a collecting tank. When the sampling device is so positioned, the drilling wonn 7 is rotated in the reverse direction and the sample is discharged from the casing 8 by the action of the drilling worm. At the same time, the

scraper 12 moves downwardly in the casing 8 and slides against the convolutions of the drilling worm 7 so as to scrape all of the sample material from the drilling worm 7 in a satisfactory manner.

At this time it is pointed out that the guide slots 10 can perform a further useful function. If the sampled material has a tendency to jam within the casing 8, the guide slots 10 function as pressure relief valves and prevent the breaking down of the sampled material. Thus there is no grain destruction in the case of granular bulk materials and a true sample is obtainable.

In the event the sample material has a strong tendecy to bulge the casing 8, particularly when the material being sampled is a relatively sticky material, it is to be noted that the casing 8 is reinforced in the area of the scraper 12 by the cage 15 through the reaction of the rollers 16 against the casing 8. Further, if any bulging of the casing 8 does occur below the lowermost rollers 16 during the sample taking operation, when the scraper 12 moves downwardly during the sample discharging operation, the lower rollers 16 will again reform the casing 8 and thus recalibrate the casing 8.

It is to be understood that because of the satisfactory cleaning of the convolutions of the drilling worm as well as the inside of the casing 8 in the area of the slots 10, it will be apparent that all of the taken sample will be discharged from the sampling device and that the sample obtainable therewith will be a true sample and not one wherein portions thereof remain in the sampling device and are separately discharged during a later cleaning operation.

It is further to be understood that the sampling device of this invention is thus to be considered as a suitable mechanical testing device according to the prevailing guide lines for taking samples, such as ISO regulations, etc.

We claim:

1. A sampling device for the removal of individual samples from static bulk material, said sampling device comprising a tubular casing, a drilling worm having a plurality of convolutions disposed within said casing,

means mounting said drilling worm for rotation within said casing, and scrapermeans carried by said casing for automatically removing sample portions from said drilling worm during the discharge of a sample from said sampling device.

2. The sampling device of claim 1 wherein said scraper means is in the form of a block-like member disposed within said casing and extending between two adjacent convolutions of said drilling worm in contacting relation therewith, said block-like member forming a movable upper closure for a sample receiving space defined by said casing and said drilling worm.

3. The sampling device of claim 2 wherein said blocklike member is in the form of a block of elastic material.

4. The sampling device of claim 2 wherein said blocklike member is in the form of a block of elastic material and occupies approximately one-quarter of the cross section of said casing.

5. The sampling device of claim 2 wherein said blocklike member has at least one elastic scraping lip engaging said drilling worm.

6. The sampling device of claim 1 wherein said casing has at least one axial guide, and guide means connected to said scraper means and engaging said guide for limitriding on said casing for retaining said cage in fixed radial relation to said casing and free to move axially of said casing, and said guide pins connecting said cage to said scraper means for axial movement therewith.

9. The sampling device of claim 8 wherein said guide elements include at least three circumferentially spaced pairs of rollers in contacting engagement with said casing. 

1. A sampling device for the removal of individual samples from static bulk material, said sampling device comprising a tubular casing, a drilling worm having a plurality of convolutions disposed within said casing, means mounting said drilling worm for rotation within said casing, and scraper means carried by said casing for automatically removing sample portions from said drilling worm during the discharge of a sample from said sampling device.
 2. The sampling device of claim 1 wherein said scraper means is in the form of a block-like member disposed within said casing and extending between two adjacent convolutions of said drilling worm in contacting relation therewith, said block-like member forming a movable upper closure for a sample receiving space defined by said casing and said drilling worm.
 3. The sampling device of claim 2 wherein said block-like member is in the form of a block of elastic material.
 4. The sampling device of claim 2 wherein said block-like member is in the form of a block of elastic material and occupies approximately one-quarter of the cross section of said casing.
 5. The sampling device of claim 2 wherein said block-like member has at least one elastic scraping lip engaging said drilling worm.
 6. The sampling device of claim 1 wherein said casing has at least one axial guide, and guide means connected to said scraper means and engaging said guide for limiting movement of said scraper means to movement axially of said casing and in response to rotation of said drilling worm.
 7. The sampling device of claim 6 wherein said guide is in the form of a guide slot in said casing, and said guide means are in the form of guide pins disposed within said guide slot.
 8. The sampling device of claim 7 wherein a cage surrounds said casing, guide elements carried by said cage riding on said casing for retaining said cage in fixed radial relation to said casing and free to move axially of said casing, and said guide pins connecting said cage to said scraper means for axial movement therewith.
 9. The sampling device of claim 8 wherein said guide elements include at least three circumferentially spaced pairs of rollers in contacting engagement with said casing. 